Higher fan speed in SLI

[Four Dyce]

Hello.

I just want to know if it's normal that my two cards fans get louder than a single card would when in a game?

For example, with one card running, it's pretty quiet and all is good. But in SLI mode with the same game the fans get louder and louder. I would've thought it'd be the other way around?

I can only think that the card on top is picking up the heat from the now active one below, and so has to suck in more air to keep cool.

 

[JediFragger]

Heat.

 

[Devrij]

Your theory is 100% correct. You have 2 cards pumping out heat so the temperature delta between the air and the heat sink is lower, meaning you need more airflow to keep the cards cool = louder fans.

The best way around it is to look at your case cooling. Good case fans will help keep temps down and will be fairly quiet. A nice big side panel exhaust is usually the best way forwards.

It becomes an issue when you start overclocking, but with sli you probably won't need to.

 

[Four Dyce]

Thanks guys.

I suppose it's not THAT bad considering, but it's good to have some input. According to MSI on-screen temps display it usually gets to around 70, highest I've seen it so far is 75. Fans start really going for it then.

I'm probably never going to overclock, I think I'm too inexperienced in that department anyway and would likely do more harm than good.

So I think you are right some more cooling would be the way to go. My case is a Corsair Carbide Series Air 240 High Airflow., good case but as you can see, no side exhaust. However my old PC has a few fans I could salvage, though I could try taking the side panel off first and see how that goes.

 

[Devrij]

Thanks guys.

I suppose it's not THAT bad considering, but it's good to have some input. According to MSI on-screen temps display it usually gets to around 70, highest I've seen it so far is 75.

I'm probably never going to overclock, I think I'm too inexperienced in that department anyway and would likely do more harm than good.

So I think you are right some more cooling would be the way to go. My case is a Corsair Carbide Series Air 240 High Airflow., good case but as you can see, no side exhaust. However my old PC has a few fans I could salvage, though I could try taking the side panel off first and see how that goes.

It's a bit wee, so really just make sure you have as much air flow as you can get. If you put your hand by the exhaust fans when the cards are under load you'll probably feel a fair bit of heat coming out. Ideally that would be cool air (ie the case temp is not affected). I have a full tower with fans out the wazoo and I still have hairdryer hot air coming out the top from my 290s.

70-75C is very good tbh. My top card tends to max out around 84C in a warm room with the most demanding games. Perhaps a solution would be to set a custom fan profile to let your card run a bit hotter with lower fan speeds if it bugs you. Under 80C is a nice target.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Ignore.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Thanks guys.

I suppose it's not THAT bad considering, but it's good to have some input. According to MSI on-screen temps display it usually gets to around 70, highest I've seen it so far is 75. Fans start really going for it then.

I'm probably never going to overclock, I think I'm too inexperienced in that department anyway and would likely do more harm than good.

So I think you are right some more cooling would be the way to go. My case is a Corsair Carbide Series Air 240 High Airflow., good case but as you can see, no side exhaust. However my old PC has a few fans I could salvage, though I could try taking the side panel off first and see how that goes.

You SLIing two cards on a Micro-ATX board? Then of course it would be no surprise that the top card become loud, as the cooler's fan intake would be directly on top of the PCB of the bottom card.